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Fourteen years after their Grammy-winning debut, Raising Sand, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss followed up with Raise the Roof—which was nominated for three more Grammys. Now on tour, the duo also has a new band that includes bassist Viktor Krauss, guitarist JD McPherson, and utility player Stuart Duncan. But before they hit the road, Krause, Duncan, and McPherson—and their techs Paul Ackling and Kevin Devogel— invited the PG team to a rehearsal at Soundcheck Nashville for a look behind the gear curtain. Here’s a sampling of what our team of John Bohlinger, Chris Kies, and Perry Bean saw. Watch the Rundown for the whole picture.
Brought to you by D’Addario XPND Pedalboard.
Fender Bender
This Fender Squier Telecaster—property of Stuart Duncan—has a palm bender for a steel-like effect, and wears Ernie Ball M Steel 2915s, gauged .010–.052.
Brown Silver
Duncan’s vintage Silvertone is strung with Ernie Ball Power Slinky nickelwound 2220 strings, gauged .011–.048.
Lil’ Git
Stuart’s Yamaha Guitalele uses Ernie Ball Ernesto Palla 2403 classical-style guitar strings. Also in his acoustic line-up is a Gibson J-45 and a Martin D-28, which both take Ernie Ball Earthwood phosphor bronze strings.
The Giraffe
This Gibson long-neck banjo uses Ernie Ball 5-string Banjo Frailing strings gauged at .010–.024, with loop ends.
Resophonic Rouser
Duncan’s Gold Tone Paul Beard Signature Series Resonator wears Ernie Ball bronze-alloy Earthwood light acoustic strings.
Stuart Duncan's Pedalboard
This comparatively stripped board does the job for Duncan. It’s got two Boss TU-3 tuners, an IndyGuitarist Effects custom OD, a Carl Martin TremO’vibe, and a Benado multi-effects with a Steel-Verb, Echo-Zen delay, and NutraDrive OD.
Tone Tools
Victor Krauss has a distinctive sonic setup, since he covers both bass and guitar in the band. One of his main instruments is this 1967 Galanti Grand Prix.
Towers
And a Yamaha RA-200R rotating speaker cabinet driven by a Groove Tubes GT Trio preamp.
Meet the
Here’s Krauss’ stock 1964 Gibson SG Standard.
Solid Guitars
He also plays a high-mileage 1961 Gibson Les Paul—a double-cutaway from the era before this body design became tagged as the SG.
Get Shorty!
This ’60s Vox Octave 12—a short-scale instrument also called a mando-guitar—has been modified to a 6 string.
Dano Dancer
Among his other vintage instruments is a 1957 Danelectro UB-2 6-string bass that’s still stock.
Twang Thang
One of the few new axes in his arsenal is this 2022 Gretsch Duane Eddy Bass VI.
The Organic
For acoustic, Kraus chases two options: this 1943 Gibson LG-2.
Fantastics
And the other is a velvety 1953 Martin 0-18.
Viktor Krauss' Pedalboard
From his hands and instruments’ strings, the signal goes to a Boss TU-3W tuner, an Xotic EP Booster, a Guyatone ST2 compressor, another EP Booster, a Boss LS-2 Line Selector (with a send/return to an EHX Pitch Fork and a Danelectro Back Talk), a Nobles ODR-1, a Mostortion MT10, a Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, a Klon KTR, a Game Changer Audio Plus Sustain (controlling a Boss RE-2 Space Echo), a Fulltone Supa-Trem2, a Strymon Volante, a Hologram Microcosm Granular Looper & Glitch pedal, a Line 6 DL4 MkII delay, a Strymon blueSky, and an Ernie Ball volume pedal for the Yamaha RA-200R, another Strymon blueSky, and a Demeter VTDB-2B Tube DI for the Danelectro.
Pink Panther
This Fender Jazzmaster features some custom work by guitar maker TK Smith and the Fender Custom Shop. All JD’s guitars are strung with D’Addarios.
Flex-Able Flyer
This Supro Dual Tone stays dropped down a half-step.
This custom TK Smith 6-string has long been one of McPherson’s favorites. Groove on those pickup covers and that whammy bar!
The Rest of the Best
The remaining gunslingers in McPherson's holster including a Fender Custom Shop Tele, a Gretsch G6134T-58 Vintage Select '58 Penguin with Bigsby, and a pair of TK Smith creations (right side)
Amp Trinity
McPherson plays through a Fender tweed Pro-Amp reissue and a ’68 Vibrolux, while a Texotica Presidio 15 hangs in as a backup, but gets used as his main sound source when he does his own opening set.
JD McPherson's Pedalboard
McPherson runs his guitars into a D’Addario tuner. From there, the signal hits an Echoplex preamp, a Fender ’65 Deluxe pedal, a Crowther Hot Cake, a Way Huge Havelina Fuzz, a Tsakalis AudioWorks Six, an MXR Tremolo, a Fender MTG Tube tremolo, an Echoplex delay, an EHX Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai, and a Dr. Scientist Reverberator and Reverberato—all into a Live Wire Solutions ABY box leading to JD’s amps.
“Tone is not important,” is an interesting phrase to hear while filming a Rig Rundown. But Underoath’s Tim McTague has good reason to shake his head at tone purists.
“Gear infatuation can be super cool because it’s a passion or a hobby, but it’s not necessary for me to do my job. I don’t want to degrade anyone who is into it, but it’s not my thing,” admits McTague.
So, what is his thing? We found that what he had to say during this Rundown echoed what he told PG in 2018 after recording Erase Me.
“One of the special things about Underoath is we’ve always been energy- and vibe-focused. We play as much or just enough to where it gets the point across.”
And during our Rundown, he continued along those sentiments: “To me, what’s important is energy and things that move the needle with a room full of people. My tech Diego Casillas is a tone geek, so when I can get someone to use technology that’s efficient for my onstage focus and sounds awesome, it’s really the perfect marriage.”
While he’s not precious about his gear, the resulting conversation with PG’s Perry Bean at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works before a sold-out show on April 2 was both provocative and pragmatic. He explained why he “doesn’t need to tour with nice guitars” but also acknowledged the benefit of digital gear and programming. He noted that he tries to keep it “punk rock as possible.” Then the next thing he said, sarcastically, was “wanna check out my computer?” All in all, what this Rundown lacks in guitar gluttony, it makes up for in rational substance.
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Solid Guitar Tested
“I’ve broken way too many nice SGs, and I used to like touring with nice guitars, but then I realized I don’t need one,” admits Underoath guitarist Timothy McTague. Instead, he now buys Gibson SG Special HP models, rips everything out, puts in a Seymour Duncan JB humbucker, and wires that pickup straight to a volume pot. The SGs in his touring collection are reserved for drop-D tuning and take Ernie Ball Beefy Slinkys. (His tech programmed his Axe-Fx II XL+ to drop tune certain patches so it sounds as if McTague is playing in drop-C on his SGs, but he is still in drop D.)
Hammer T
Another tool in his touring chest is a Fender Telecaster HH that has been stripped back to its simplest form, with a Seymour Duncan JB humbucker in the bridge wired straight to the volume knob. McTague attacks all his guitars with Wedgie Delrin 1 mm picks.
The Black Stallion
For drop-A songs, McTague will saddle up and ride with this Squier Vintage Modified Baritone Jazzmaster that has a Seymour Duncan JB housed in a JM-style pickup covering. During the Rundown, McTague mentions that he records Underoath’s material with all these instruments. This extended-range rager takes Ernie Ball 6-String Baritone Slinkys (.013–.072).
“Keep It Simple. Don’t Overcomplicate Anything.”
“We break everything, so the less moving parts the better. I don’t want to worry about some cable I accidentally unplugged on my special sky verb I bought for a trillion dollars that takes my whole rig down. Let it rip and let me get back to business,” expresses McTague.
McTague and tech Casillas have every change and scene programmed into the Fractal Audio Axe-Fx II XL+, so nothing needs to be engaged or switched once the show starts thanks to the Abelton Live 11 Suite + Strange Electronic Setlist plugin doing the automation. His base tone starts with the Fractal’s Dizzy V4 Slvr 3, but that’s just the beginning of the architecture that assembles McTague’s live sound.
“Having everything—including patch changes—programmed in the Axe-Fx frees me up to express myself onstage and interact with the audience, without worrying about the technical processes happening behind me,” says McTague.
The only thing you’ll see onstage for McTague is this sleek board that has a Mission Engineering SP-1 Expression Pedal for wah settings via the Fractal, a Whirlwind MLTSELPRO4XR MultiSelector Remote, a Nice Rack Canada custom routing box, and a Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner.
